The Chaos War
by Toobah
Summary: The Chaos Emeralds are scattered, and it is only a matter of time before Eggman and his robotic warlords recover them and bring the world to its knees. Set just after Sonic Heroes. Chapter 1. Someone please review it! I'm getting desperate!


The Floating Island acts as a home to many. Its surface has been scarred by war and famine but like most places, it is still teeming with life and even houses entire cities. An island in the sky. Such a great feat would surely have some kind of secret behind it. in this case, The Chaos Emeralds. 7 coloured gems housing enough energy to destroy the world in the right hands. That energy is put to good use, keeping the island afloat. An entire race of echidnas devoted their lives to protect the emeralds. For many it was a death sentence. Over time, most of the echidnas died out and the remaining few abandoned the emeralds. All but one. Knuckles the echidna. He would keep his promise to his ancestors and guard the emeralds alone, no matter what the cost.  
  
Knuckles came to, he had fallen asleep on the job again. He lay in the corner of the Emerald Chamber staring up at the shining emeralds, suspended in the air by their own power. He sat up and rubbed his tired eyes,What had woken him? He knew something must have done it, but he couldn't figure out what. Eventually, it came to him. There was a growing humming sound coming from outside. He walked over to the large door and pushed it open. It was still dark outside and there was nothing on the grass. The humming became louder still. He looked to the sky and saw a large airship descending. The air whooshed around Knuckles as the ship slowly lowered itself onto the grass. It was too dark for him to pick out any features so he was unsure as to whether whoever was on board could be trusted. The engines slowly cut out and a gangway dropped out of the ship. Knuckles raised his gloved fists, ready for battle. Light poured out of the hatch, nearly blinding Knuckles. A silhouette of a large man stood in the center of the light, casting his shadow onto the grass. Knuckles recognised who it was immediately.  
  
"Eggman!"  
  
"Hello Knuckles," he shouted across the grass,"I'm afraid this isn't a social visit, you have something I want"  
  
Knuckles knew what he meant, this wasn't the first time Eggman had attempted to steal the Chaos Emeralds.  
  
"Oh yeah? Well if you want the Emeralds, you'll have to go through me first!" He roared furiously at the silhouetted villian and walked slowly towards him.  
  
"Stop right there!" Eggman raised a threatening finger and chuckled. "I knew you would try to interfere, which is why I've prepared a playmate for you. ATTACK!"  
  
Knuckles stopped in his tracks. The sound of an engine purring came from the ship. Eggman laughed insanely as another, taller figure joined him.  
  
"Eggman, what are you..."  
  
The engine sound roared as the figure charged out of the light, straight into Knuckles. The impact knocked him unconscious. Darkness engulfed him. Far away, he could hear the sound of Eggman's insane laughter.  
  
A constant humming sound filled Knuckles' head. Had he dreamt the whole thing? Were the Chaos Emeralds safe? The blinding pain struck his head like a sledgehammer. He blinked his eyes, his vision was too blurry for him to make much out. As his senses awakened he realised where he was. He was laid across the floor of a small room, and he was on board an airship. He could hear the humming of the engines. For the first time ever, He was Eggman's prisoner. The Emeralds were nearby, he could feel it. He clambered to his feet and analysed the room. There was only one door, which turned out to be locked, to his right lay a pile of junk: chests, gas cylinders, Robot parts and so on, that was where the Emeralds were. At the other side of the room was a large console, sat at the foot of it were three inoperative robots. Long, coiled wires trailed out of their heads and across the floor to the console, they were charging. Knuckles suddenly realised just who the robots were. Silver Sonic, a large, robotic hedgehog, jets came out of his feet and his entire body was covered with a silvery sheen. Knuckles destroyed him several years ago in order to protect the Chaos Emeralds, or so he thought. Next to him lay Metal Sonic, a smaller hedgehog-like robot who had a large jet fitted into his back, he was coated in blue paint and had claw-like fingers. Knuckles had fought him on two seperate occasions and knew that he was a dangerous foe. Finally, Mecha Sonic, an updated version of Metal Sonic, he was faster, stronger and as well as having jets in his feet, he had a large laser cannon grafted to his chest. Knuckles had fought him once before when he had transformed, harnessing the energy of the green Master Emerald. He could only hope that they did not wake up. He crept over to the junkpile in the corner. He swept some tools aside, revealing a large, metal chest. He knelt, undid the catches cautiously opened the lid. All 7 Emeralds were piled in there, casting their light upon Knuckles' tired features. In the corner of the lid, he spotted a small, flickering LED. A digital alarm pierced the air like an alarm clock. He should have known that there would be some kind of security feature. The three robots in the corner blinked to life and turned their red, digital eyes straight towards him. A robotic voice sounded from Silver Sonic.  
  
"Target is active, protect the emeralds with extreme prejudice."  
  
This time, Knuckles was ready. He grabbed a screwdriver from the floor and charged towards Mecha Sonic. The wire was still screwed firmly into the back of his head. Knuckles vaulted over his head and stabbed the screwdriver through the wire, pinning it to the ground, causing it to spark. Metal Sonic swiped his hand frantically at Knuckles, who flipped backwards in an attempt avoid the attack. As he landed on his feet, he realised that he hadn't succeeded. Warm, red blood poured from the four parallel gashes on his left cheek. The wound stung, unbearably. Mecha Sonic was now incapable of moving any closer due to his wire, so the best he could do was bark commands at the other two.  
  
"CHARGE!"  
  
Silver Sonic rushed towards him like a projectile. Knuckles punched the approaching robot in the forehead, causing to bones in his hand to crunch and splinter. The impact caused Silver Sonic to reel uncontrollably until he smashed into the pile of junk against the wall. Knuckles roared with pain and clutched his right hand, which was now surging with pain. The center of Mecha Sonic's cannon started to glow. Not good. A huge pulse of yellow laser fire streamed from Mecha Sonic's chest, straight towards Knuckles. He leapt out of the way as quickly as he could manage. The laser seared the flesh on his left arm as it passed. It continued its deadly trajectory towards the scrap pile. It tore the Metal from the side of Silver Sonic's face, revealing numerous wires and motors. The laser finally struck one of the gas cannisters, causing it to explode in a shower of searing hot shards of metal, embedding themselves beneath Knuckles' skin. The explosion had blown a gaping hole in the ceiling, revealing the endless sky above them. Knuckles was sucked upwards, helplessly. He tumbled through the sky as the airship vanished from beneath him, leaving only air between him and the fast approaching sea below. He plummeted downwards, head first as the air whipped past him. He stared beyond his feet towards the clear, blue sky, the airship was quickly getting smaller. 7 colourful specks of light flew out of it, drifting in all directions. The Chaos Emeralds had been dislodged in the explosion. At least they were no longer in the clutches of evil. However, it was only a matter of time before Eggman retrieved them. He had to get to them first, and he would need all the help he could get if he was to defeat those robots. He looked downwards towards the sea. He could only hope and pray that he would survive the impact with the sea.  
  
Tails lay on the empty beach staring at the starlit sky. He was replaying his adventures with Sonic and Knuckles in his head. He missed his old life. He now lived quietly in the Seaside Hill with Sonic. He made a living building and selling machines and whenever he had nothing to do, he would come down to the beach and think like he was doing now. He continued to stare, the stars were so beautiful, he could lay there all night. Which was exactly what he intended to do. A cold rush of water up his back stirred him from his thoughts. The tide was coming in. He hastily jumped to his feet and stood in the shallow water for a while, staring out to sea, deep in thought. As the water rocked backwards and forwards beneath his feet, Tails felt something brush against his foot. Curious, He picked it up and examined it as best he could in the darkness. It looked very familiar. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a white boxing glove, stained with blood.  
  
"Knuckles?"  
  
Tails ran deeper into the water, his friend was nearby, and hurt.  
  
"Knuckles? Knuckles?" his shouts echoed across the silent water.  
  
"Knuckles, where are you? Are you alright?"   
  
He heard a distant, watery splutter about 10 metres to his left. He ran towards the sound. Knuckles lay face down in the shallow water. Knuckles raised his head and in a quiet, strained voice whispered, "Tails? Is that you?" Every word was an almighty effort. Knuckles raised himslef with his hands. His right hand crunched loudly and gave way. Knuckles' screamed with pain as he fell with a splash. Clouds of blood from his face seeped into the water. Knuckles raised himself again with his good hand, his bloody face contorted with pain, his breaths became forced and heavy.  
  
"Knuckles, what the hell happened to you?"  
  
Knuckles wheezed the best response he could manage, "Eggman... the emeralds... they..."  
  
He fell unconscious into the water.  
  
He awoke in an unfamiliar room. 2 familiar figures stood over him. He blinked his watery eyes as they focussed. The first figure was a furry, orange fox with large, pointed ears, it was Tails. Now that he was in the light, Knuckles realised just how much he had changed since they last met, he had grown his hair considerably, it now came down to his chin, which was now a lot furrier. next to him was another face he hadn't seen for a while, a blue hedgehog, whose head was a riot of spikes, he hadn't changed at all.Knuckles sat up and examined the room, it was a hospital ward. Sonic and Tails stared at him with huge smiles across their faces. He was in a hospital ward, his forearm was encased in plaster.  
  
"About time you woke up," Sonic said cheerfully, "I was about to go home. How are you feeling?"  
  
"A little shaken," Knuckles rubbed his painful head and spoke through a bust lip,"how did I get here?"  
  
"Tails found you on the beach in a real mess. If he hadn't brought you here, you'd probably be dead"  
  
Knuckles smiled at Tails,"Thank you."  
  
Tails smiled,"Y'know what they say, a friend in need is a friend indeed." He hugged Knuckles, who inhaled sharply as Tails touched the bandage on his arm. Sonic took the chart from the end of the bed and read curiously.  
  
"Whoa! You've got the works. Concussion, blood loss, pnuemonia, gashes on your face, numerous bones broken in your hand , two black eyes, a cut lip, substantial bruising, shrapnel wounds and a laser burn. What the hell happened?"  
  
So, Sonic and Tails listened attentively as Knuckles told them about how Eggman had stolen the Chaos Emeralds and kidnapped him. He told them about his fight with the robots. The Emeralds being scattered. His impact with the water which must have left him with the black eyes and cut lip.  
  
"...And so, I washed up here. Sonic, Tails, if we don't find the Emeralds soon, The floating Island will drop out of the sky and Eggman will surely enslave the world."  
  
"So, Eggman's up to his no-good tricks again. And if those robots are involved, we're going to need all the help we can get.", said Sonic, determined.  
  
The ward door opened and a short, stubby doctor in a white coat entered the room.  
  
"Ah, Knuckles, you're finally awake. You're extremely lucky. There doesn't seem to be any lasting damage, I think you're ready to go home."  
  
"Thank you doctor, but my home is with the Emeralds. Now that they're gone, I have nowhere to stay."  
  
Sonic stepped forward, put his hand on Knuckles' shoulder and said,"No worries, you can stay with us."  
  
Sonic's neighbourhood was without a doubt, a really nice place. The people were friendly, the weather was beautiful, and the whole place was a stone's throw from the beach. Sonic and Tails' house was built on a grassy verge, overlooking the beach. The three of them wasted the afternoon playing video games, listening to music or reminiscing about the old days. It was just starting to go dark outside and the three were sat on the living room floor, playing poker and sipping on their beers. Sonic had won the last three games and he looked set to do the same again. He was also acting extremely big-headed about it. Tails tried to distract him so that he would stop being so annoying.  
  
"Hey Sonic, did you tell Knuckles about the concert tonight?"  
  
"Oh man, I forgot. Knuckles, there's a concert tonight just outside of town, you want to come with us? We'll pay for your ticket. And you can borrow some of my clothes. How about it?"  
  
Knuckles wasn't too thrilled about it,"Hadn't we better rest up, I mean, we start our search for the emeralds tomorrow."  
  
"Well, it'll help us unwind before the big journey, come on. You don't want to miss a concert from the Chaotix."  
  
"The Chaotix!?"  
  
"Yeah, you know them?"  
  
Knuckles ignored the question and asked,"Do you have a picture of them?"  
  
Sonic browsed the CD rack until he came to a Chaotix CD. The cover showed the band: A large crocodile in headphones stood with a microphone in his hand, behind him was a stern, Purple chameleon with an electric guitar on his back, finally, a small bee in a flight helmet, holding a pair of drumsticks. Knuckles smiled coyly at the picture and muttered under his breath,"Well I never..."  
  
Tails stared at him suspiciously and finally said,"So are you coming or not?"  
  
Smiling, Knuckles replied,"I wouldn't miss it for the world." 


End file.
